Confirmed: Dominik Kubalík returns to Switzerland
Confirmed: Dominik Kubalík returns to SwitzerlandCzech winger Dominik Kubalík, 29, has signed a one-year deal with HC Ambrì-Piotta, the National League club announced on Wednesday. The deal includes an opt-out clause in the event Kubalík comes to an agreement with an NHL club before December 15, 2024.
His return to Switzerland had been widely speculated for a couple of months.
“Dominik wants to return to the NHL as soon as possible but prefers to stay in shape by starting the season with a team in Europe and has expressed his willingness to do so with the club that already helped him get to the NHL five years ago,“ reads the statement on the Ambrì-Piotta website.
A native of Plzeň, Czechia, Kubalík was a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2013 but, other than two seasons in the OHL, stayed in his home country until 2017, when he went to Switzerland for the first time. In 90 National League regular-season and playoff games between 2017 and 2019, Kubalík had 37 goals and 60 assists for 97 points. In 2018-19, he was the league scoring champion and MVP.
In five NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, Kubalík has 93 goals and 83 assists for 176 points in 357 regular-season games. In his first NHL season with Chicago, the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign, he had 46 points in 68 regular-season games, then eight points in nine playoff games. However, he had only 15 points in 74 games with Ottawa last season and, as a result, had trouble attracting contract offers this summer.
Internationally, Kubalík has produced big for the Czechs over the years with 46 points in 43 career games at five IIHF World Championships. In 2023, he led the tournament with eight goals and was a forward on the tournament all-star team. He also had two points in five games for the Czechs at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
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